Top global event organizers convene in Tianjin to explore cooperation opportunities in China

The 20th China Expo Forum for International Cooperation (CEFCO) kicked off in north China's Tianjin Municipality on Thursday, bringing together industry professionals from across the world to discuss the future of the global exhibition industry and explore opportunities for international cooperation and sustainable development.

Themed "Empowering a Sustainable Future with New Quality Productive Forces," the three-day forum has attracted over 600 industry professionals from 20 countries and regions, including China, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, with participants sharing insights and discussing the future prospects of the global exhibition industry.

In interviews with China Global Television Network (CGTN), leading event organizers from around the globe highlighted that the vast opportunities presented by the Chinese market continue to draw them back to the country, stressing the significant appeal and potential of the exhibition industry.

"A lot of international exhibition companies came to CEFCO, came to China. And they brought us a lot of very international industrial exhibitions [which] widened our eyesight," said Lin Shunjie, Chairman of the China International Exhibition Center Group.

"We are here supporting it since the beginning back in Beijing in 2005. Over the last three years, I think that there are more international participants. So, it's a good way to mix and match Chinese stakeholders with international stakeholders," stated Adeline Vancauwelaert, COO of the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI).

Michael Kruppe, General Manager of Shanghai New International Expo Center also emphasized that CEFCO has played a significant role in boosting the exhibition economy and creating a ripple effect that supports broader economic development.

"So, now we have what we call an economic factor. For example, our exhibitions have a factor of 12 to 1. So, one RMB spent in my venue, gives the city of Shanghai 12 RMB. Because you have visitors, they go to restaurants, they take trains, they go to catering. When an exhibition is not happening, all these revenues are not existing. And that is why I think that CEFCO and government involvement becomes more and more important. And that's also why we as stakeholders are looking for closer relations with the government and with CEFCO," said Kruppe.

Since its inception in 2005, the CEFCO has been held in various cities across China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Macao. It has attracted tens of thousands of exhibition industry professionals from over 30 countries and regions, facilitated the launch of numerous high-quality exhibition projects, and played an important role in fostering cooperation between China's exhibition sector and its international counterparts.

Top global event organizers convene in Tianjin to explore cooperation opportunities in China

The key scientific infrastructure to generate attosecond laser, which started construction on Friday in Dongguan City, south China's Guangdong Province, will boost China's innovation ability in ultrafast optics field, said scientists.

The Advanced Attosecond Laser Infrastructure (AALI), including facilities in Dongguan and Xi'an City in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, is being built by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

The AALI project is planned to set up 10 beamlines covering wavelengths in extreme ultraviolet, soft X-ray and terahertz radiation, along with 22 research terminals, forming a comprehensive attosecond science facility in the next five years, according to the Institute of Physics (IOP) of the CAS.

AALI demands driving lasers with exceptional stability and reliability, representing the pinnacle of ultrafast laser technology, thus facing numerous technical challenges.

To facilitate the smooth construction and operation of the AALI, the project has launched an innovation cluster for the high-performance laser industry. The initial members include 40 institutions, comprising 27 laser-related enterprises, 10 universities, and three research institutes. These entities are collaboratively working on establishing test platforms, streamlining supply chains, and developing industrial clusters to better integrate resources and advance the growth of related industries.

"We not only rely on the IOP (of the Chinese Academy of Sciences), but also tackle problems by working together with relevant scientific research institutes and other platform builders. After two years of effort, our team now has more than 100 members. With the development of this infrastructure, I believe it will bring more and more practical applications, including those promoting the development of related industries," said Wei Zhiyi, principal investigator of the AALI and a research fellow at the IOP.

The development of attosecond laser pulses has opened the door to the world of electrons, allowing physicists to investigate a wide range of electron behaviors. Scientists are expected to discover more novel phenomena at the attosecond scale, advancing both fundamental and applied sciences.

"In the field of ultrafast optics, attosecond lasers are at the forefront. If we can build such a large device in this field and serve a vast number of users, it will be like opening a new window and blazing a new trail in this area. It will have a great impact on our country's development in this field," said Zhao Kun, a research fellow at IOP and chief engineer of the Dongguan section of the AALI.

Attosecond laser infrastructure to boost China's innovation in ultrafast optics: scientists